A United Nations agency report on Friday has revealed that women and children are the main victims in the Israel-Hamas war, with some 16,000 killed.

According to the Associated Press (AP) approximately two mothers have been killed every hour since Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel on October 7 last year.

As a result of the more than 100-day conflict, UN Women added, at least 3,000 women may have become widows and heads of households and at least 10,000 children may have lost their fathers, the AP reported.

The UN agency promoting gender equality pointed to gender inequality and the burden on women fleeing the fighting with children and being displaced again and again.

“Of the territory’s 2.3 million population, it said, 1.9 million are displaced and “close to one million are women and girls” seeking shelter and safety. UN Women’s executive director, Sima Bahous, said this is “a cruel inversion” of fighting during the 15 years before the Hamas attack on October 7. Previously, she said, 67 per cent of all civilians killed in Gaza and the West Bank were men and less then 14 per cent were women,” the AP stated.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza stated that nearly 25,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict, 70 per cent of them women and children. The UN said more than a half million people in Gaza — a quarter of the population — are starving.

In Israel, around 1,200 people were killed during the October 7 attack by Hamas that sparked the war, and some 250 people were taken hostage by militants. More than 100 hostages are believed to still be held captive in Gaza.